


Dance With Me

by articcat621



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Co-workers, Dirty Dancing References, F/M, Fairest of the Rare's Sing Me A Rare 2019, Friends to Lovers, Language, Not Canon Compliant, Romance, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-07 21:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20982677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/articcat621/pseuds/articcat621
Summary: She just wanted to do good for him.





	Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Didn't finish this on time to submit it for the competition, but now that voting is over, I'm happy to share my contribution!
> 
> Many thanks to gaeilgerua for looking this over for me.
> 
> My song was She's Like the Wind, so enjoy some Dirty Dancing vibes. xoxo
> 
> Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended. Anything you recognise from the Dirty Dancing franchise also doesn't belong to me.

Hermione groaned… She just couldn’t get it. No matter how much she tried or how much she practised, she kept messing the dance up. She bit her lip, knowing that Cormac was going to yell at her again. The show was in two days, and she was still stepping on the wrong beat. 

Hermione didn’t understand how it was so hard. She was the brightest witch of her age! She could help defeat Voldemort, but she couldn’t handle a simple dance. When she had overheard Cormac in the cafeteria complaining that his current dance partner had bailed days before the show, she had blurted out that she’d do it with him so he could still compete. 

Working with Cormac at the Ministry, she had realised that he wasn’t the same, foolish wizard that she had known in her youth. He still had that cocky swagger about him, but she found that it worked with his sex appeal. Groaning, Hermione knew that she was smitten with him. It’s why she volunteered in the first place. 

Cormac, desperate for a partner, had agreed. He didn’t realise, however, that she had two left feet.

How could it be so hard? It was just counting--one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four--over and over again until the rhythm is ingrained in your very being, like a stamp on your soul. Hermione rolled her eyes. That’s what Cormac had told her, but she still couldn’t get it together. 

Crossing her arms, she ran down the street, desperately wishing that she had grabbed a coat or cloak to cover herself before stepping out the door. She was already late, and she hated being late.

She also was cursing her decision to wear a white tee-shirt. At this point in the rain, it was clinging to her like a second skin.

Cormac’s flat was right around the corner. With a little more of a pep in her step, she moved quickly. She saw him waiting for her at the door, a warmth suddenly spreading in her chest. The fact that her shirt was basically see-through didn’t matter. All that mattered was the little smirk on Cormac’s face when he took in her drowned appearance. 

“Stop,” Cormac said, leaning against the doorway. He crossed his arms and looked down at her. “Before I let you in, what count do you move on?” he asked, arching a brow at her as he waited for her response.

Hermione wet her lips. “Two,” she answered, biting her lower lip, praying to Merlin that she was right. 

“Good,” Cormac said, grinning. He moved out of the way, and Hermione walked inside, clutching her soaked duffle bag by the door.

“Let’s get to it, yeah?” Cormac said.

Hermione followed him. Cormac had transformed one of his spare bedrooms in his flat into a dance studio of sorts. At least, there were mirrors on the walls and hardwood floor. 

“Is it okay if we jump right in?” Cormac asked, turning to face her.

Hermione nodded, biting her lip. “You know I need all the help I can get.”

Cormac scoffed. Waving his wand, he dried Hermione off. He then flicked it towards the record player in the corner and the music started.

Hermione placed her bag in the corner of the room before stepping towards Cormac. She took a deep breath, facing Cormac. He moved towards her like a predator… the look in his eyes sent chills down her spine.

He moved to the beat, and she forgot how to breathe. 

Stepping before her, he put his hands on her hips.

“Are you even paying attention?”

Cormac tightened his grip on her hips, trying to gain her attention.

Hermione nodded quickly, ashamed that she had spaced out for a moment. She made her first move, twisting and turning her body to the beat as best she could. 

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four…

She counted in her head, desperately trying to keep track of the moves and the beat. However, all she could focus on was the feel of Cormac’s arms on her… 

She faltered, missing a step.

He cursed, stopping.

“I’m trying, I really am!” Hermione said quickly, frowning at the impatient look in his eyes. She knew he was getting tired of her messing up on that step, especially when he had shown her how to do it at least twenty times in the last two days.

“Well, you’re not trying hard enough!”

Hermione huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. “Yes, I am!”

“No, you’re not!” He stepped toward her, closing the distance between them once more.

“Look,” Hermione said, her voice soft, “I really am trying, Cormac. It’s just...I’m not used to this shit, and you know that. I promise, I’ll try to move on the right fucking count, but yelling at me isn’t gonna help.”

Cormac let out a deep breath and shook his head. “I know. I know, I know.” He took another deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. “But we don’t exactly have time for you to take your time learning this, you know?”

Hermione nodded. She knew that the show was in a few days. Two days, to be exact. Two days, and she hadn’t learned lifts, or mastered turns, or felt comfortable doing, like, _anything_. They were screwed.

Cormac reached out and placed a hand on Hermione’s shoulder. “Relax.”

Hermione let out a shaky breath. 

“Look,” he said, his voice softer than before, “You’re doing well. Really, I’m impressed. There are just some...details we need to work on, okay?”

Hermione nodded. She wasn’t one to shy away from a challenge. She was determined to get through this… She wasn’t going to let Cormac down.

“Let’s try it again. I promise,” Cormac rolled his eyes a little, “I won’t yell at you. Deal?”

Hermione nodded, trying not to bite her lower lip.

Cormac cued up the music again, and Hermione started to dance. She was counting in her head, focusing on what she was supposed to be doing. Cormac approached her and placed his hands on her hips. Hermione turned, Cormac turned, and Hermione finally stepped on the right count.

“Yes!” Cormac exclaimed, grinning. “Hermione, you finally got it!”

Hermione beamed at him, her chest heaving with excitement. “Oh, Merlin, I finally did it.” She looked down at her feet in excitement before looking back at Cormac.

He grinned at her. “Okay, Hermione, let’s learn that lift, shall we?”

Hermione nodded, her gaze stuck on Cormac’s lips… 

She wanted to kiss him.

* * *

Two days later, the performance went smoothly. Or, as smoothly as both Hermione and Cormac could have hoped it would go. 

“Don’t worry, Hermione,” Cormac said, driving the car back to his place. 

Hermione stared at the lights from the other cars out of the window. She fidgeted with her hands, nervously. She did good, but a part of her knew that she could have done better. 

“...and even though the lift wasn’t perfect, I’m confident that our audience was impressed.”

Hermione didn’t answer, lost in her own thoughts.

Cormac looked at her from the corner of his eye. He reached out and placed his hand on her arm, his thumb rubbing circles into her palm as he took her hand. “Are you okay?”

Hermione nodded. “Just a little nervous,” she told him. “Coming down from the dance high.”

“Yeah, once the adrenaline stops pumping, you kinda slow down,” Cormac said, nodding in understanding. “We’re nearly at your place, though, so you’ll be able to unwind and relax.”

“Thank you, Cormac.”

“No, thank you, Hermione, you really did me a solid.”

She smiled, watching him from the corner of her eye the whole ride home… his hand still holding hers.

* * *

Hermione tossed and turned in her bed until she couldn’t take it anymore. Thoughts of Cormac plagued her mind, and despite her attempts to fall asleep, she couldn’t…

Making up her mind, Hermione quickly dressed and grabbed her wand. She Disapparated to the corner of Cormac’s place, quickly making her way there. 

She knocked on the door, silently praying that Cormac was still awake… Or that he would open the door before she changed her mind about what she was doing.

The door opened, revealing a tired Cormac. “Hermione?” he asked, looking at her in disbelief. 

“Can I come in?” Hermione asked, looking at him, silently praying that he didn’t think she was crazy for showing up on his doorstep at two in the morning.

“Sure,” Cormac said, stepping aside so Hermione could come in. He led her to his sofa, taking a seat and gesturing her to do the same. Hermione did.

“So, um, are you okay?” Cormac asked, looking at her. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but it’s the middle of the night.”

“I needed to see you,” Hermione said, looking at Cormac. 

“So you Apparated here in the dead of night?” Cormac arched a brow at her. “You aren’t afraid of anything, are you?”

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but heard the music playing on the record player. She recognised it immediately, it was the first song she and Cormac had danced to when he was trying to see what she could do. He had been all hips and closeness with her then, and the proximity had sent her heart racing.

“Me? Dammit, Cormac, I’m--I’m afraid of everything.” The words fell from her mouth before she could stop them.

“You are?” Cormac asked, standing to take the record off.

“No! Leave the music on. I… like it.” Hermione bit her lower lip nervously. She loved Cormac… Was she a fool to believe that he loved her back? Deep down, Hermione knew there was only one way to find out.

Cormac sat back down.

“Anyway...I am scared. Of a lot.” She paused, trying to gather the courage to say what she went all that way to say. “I’m scared...of walking out of here and never feeling this way again. Of not ever feeling this--this passion again in my life. I don’t want to miss out on that.”

Cormac stared at Hermione, his eyes wide. “Hermione, I-”

Hermione abruptly stood. “Dance with me, Cormac?” She held her hand out to him. “Please?”

Cormac nodded, standing. 

Slowly but surely, the two of them danced. It was slow at first, with Cormac gripping her waist and swaying along to the music, but when she saw the look in his eyes as she felt his body close to hers, Hermione pulled him even closer against her.

Cormac put his hands in her hair, tugging her closer slightly. Hermione hitched her leg around Cormac’s waist, gasping at the sensation as they moved.

He turned, dipping her. He skimmed his lips over her abdomen, up her neck, and almost to her mouth. His lips landed just underneath her ear, whispering nonsense that she couldn’t make out.

“Cormac,” Hermione breathed, her heart racing as her body hummed with arousal. 

Grinning, he pulled away from her and walked around her. Cormac pressed his mouth against her collarbone, kissing at the sensitive skin there before pulling her shirt off, leaving her in just her bra.

Turning, Hermione trembled under the heat of his glance and she knew…

Their dance had only just begun.


End file.
